String extractor means for baling apparatus



Aug. 18, 1953 D. T. JONES ETAL STRING EXTRACTOR MEANS FOR BALING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16. 1949 5 sheets-sheet 1 Inventors DAV/D Tfn/ms J0 ES GLY/wv Jon/ESN D Attorneys 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 18, 1953 D. T. JONES ET AL' STRING EXTRACTOR MEANS FOR BALING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1e, 1949 Noi v on DAV/D mams w/vflwe"tors GLY/wv JUA/fs ""0 XM2/W @IQ/m Attorneys` Aug. 18, 1953 D. T. JONES ET AL STRING EXTRACTOR MEANS. FOR BALING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16. 194e 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 A ttorneys Aug. 18, 1953 D. T. JONES ETAL 2,649,043

STRING EXTRACTOR MEANS FOR BALING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16. 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inv enters A ttorneys i Aug. 18, 1953 D. T. JONES ET AL 2,549,043

STRING EXTRACTOR MEANS FOR BAIAING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1e. 1949' 5 sheets-sheet 5 /Attomcys Patented Aug. 18, T953 STRING EXTRACTOR MEANS FOR BALING APPARATUS David Thomas Jones and Glynn Jones, Mold, North Wales Application August 16, 1949, Serial No. 110,484 In Great Britain August 19, 1948 7 Claims.

This invention relates to automatic baling apparatus, and more particularly, although, of course, not exclusively, to apparatus of travelling pick-up type as described in the specication of our prior British Patent No. 615,876 dated August 17, 1946; and has for its object to improve the efficiency of the knotting or tying mechanism thereof (hereinafter, for convenience of description, referred to as knotter or knotters) by the provision of simple and robust string extractor means which enables the former to operate successfully when the machine is making bales (of hay, straw, or other material) of a higher density than has heretofore been found practicable, thereby enhancing the output capacity of the apparatus.

Conventional automatic baling apparatus usually comprises a baling chamber wherein material is compressed by a reciprocable ram, a pair of knotters mounted on a breastplate of said chamber, Vand a string-carrying needle in respect of each knotter, said needle being adapted to swing through slots in the floor and breastplate of the baling chamber to position string held by retainer devices of said knotters around a completed bale, in order that it may be tied by said knotters.

Difficulty has hitherto been experienced in the use of such apparatus when making highly compressed bales, due, primarily, to the fact that the pressure between completed bales still within the baling chamber of the apparatus and a new bale being made is such as to frequently prevent the required movement of string, twine, or other material used for tying purposes (all hereinafter for convenience of description referred to as string) therebetween, with a result that the end of said string is pulled from the knotters retainer, or the string becomes broken.

To overcome this and other disadvantages, baling apparatus, according to our invention, includes means whereby, in respect of each knotter (there being usually two) and after the completion of one bale and before the commencement of the next succeeding bale, a length of string is extracted from the string containers of the baler to obviate necessity for said string to be pulled between the completed bale and the new bale during the making of the latter.

In a preferred embodiment of our invention, which is described in relation to an individual knotter, we provide a cam-actuated arm pivoted on a shaft disposed adjacent to the knotters driving shaft, and said arm having Iat its outer end an angled portion or foot adapted to be positioned transversely of the adjacent breastplate slot in order to engage the string passing therethrough in the path of a bale-in-making. Said arm is arranged to pivot on its shaft away from the breastplate each time the string-carrying needle of the knotter swings through the baling chamber (during the tying of a completed bale) in order to position a length of string in the path of a new bale. The pivoting of said arm takes place in a direction opposite to that in which the knotter needle swings, and there is thus initially extracted from the respective string boxan additional length of string. As the new bale is formed and moves through the baling chamber, the loop of string held by said pivoted arm is gradually taken up `and said arm is retracted or pivoted, against the resistance of a brake, to its original position when the knotted mechanism is tripped, preferably by the arrival in its original position of said arm. The knotter needle swings through the baling chamber around the now-completed bale to permit of the tying operation. When said arm is fully retracted, the angled portion thereof is in a position which locates the string correctly for manipulation by the knotter, and this enables the conventional breastplate tucker arm, and its drive from the knotter, to be omitted.

We will further describe our invention with the aid of the accompanying explanatory drawings which illustrate, by way of example only and not of limitation, one mode of embodying same.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional side View of the relevant parts of baling apparatus incorporating the invention.

Fig. 2 is a part sectional view of the knotter and string extractor means drawn to an enlarged scale as compared with the preceding View, and taken at right Iangles thereto.

Fig. 3 is a plan of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 a fragmentary view showing the knotter drive and trip mechanism.

Figs. 5 and 6 are detached views of the actuating cams and followers.

Fig. 'I is a detached view of a spring iniuenced brake with cover plates removed to show internal construction.

Referring now to said drawings, l (Fig. l) denotes the baling chamber, 2 the baling chamber extension, 3 the breastplate, 4 the baling ram, 5, 5 the knotters, and 6 the string-carrying needle of one of said knotters lall of a baling machine of more or less conventional type. Said knotters 5, 5 are mounted upon breastplate 3 above baling chamber I and the knotters driving shaft 'l is journalled in bearing brackets 8, tEl secured to side plates 9, 9a of the baling machine by means of bolts 8b and 8C. Also journalled in brackets 3, Sa is a shaft I!! disposed above and parallel to shaft 'I, whereto are keyed-there being one in respect of each knotter -a pair of string extractor arms I2, I2 provided at their outer ends with angled portions or feet I2e adapted, when required, to be positioned transversely of conventional slots 3a, 3EL of breastplate 3. Actuation of arms I2 during operation of the baling machine is effected by means of two edge cams secured to shaft 'I, one cam i3 being contoured to lift arms I2, whilst the other cam I4 is adapted tol'control the lifting movement of said arrnsl and, if necesi sary, to return them to lowered positions. Two follower rollers, I5, I6 are, respectively,- in engage'- inent with cams I3, Ill, and are carried aty the ends of arms |52, Ita which are at right angles to each other on shaft II).

In use, and following upon the actuation of trip mechanism hereinafter described, shaft 'I makes one complete revolution to operate knotters 5 (with their needles 6 and extractor arms I2) each time 'a bale is completed, i. e. has reached required dimensions. lThe required positions of needle 6 and its respective arm I2 for the knotting operation to be carried out is indicated by broken lines in Fig. 1. The position of the string being tied around a completed bale is shown in chain-dot line. During the knotting, in known manner, of the two ends a, b of said string held by a retainer 5e of knotter 5, both of conventional construction, arm i2 remains stationary and foot I2EL thereof is located partly across (as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3) the adjacent breastplate slot ato position said string ends a, b correctly for manipulation by knotter 5. During the knotting operation 4needle 6V swings downward through the slots of thebaling chamber, and arm I2 actuated by cam i3 through follower I is raised rapidly away from breas'tplate 3 to the position shown in full line, Fig. l. When arm I2 has reached its uppermost position, it is arranged for follower I6 to be contacted by an appropriately contoured edge po'rtion 'of cam Iii in order to prevent any free movement or kick of said arm. The downward movement of needle 6 positions a length of string (the end c whereof is held by retainer 5a) in the path of the new bale, said string passing over the foot I2a o'f'upraised arm I2 as indicated in full line Fig'. l.

There is thus provided abo've the baling chamber a length of string stretching from the' point c, where it is held by retainer 5a to a protection roller d, and which string is approximately equal to the length of a bale. During the building up of the new bale by successive strokes of ram il the compressed material is forced along the baling Chamber, carrying with it the String in its path which is thus held between the newly compressed material and the last ycompleted bale. String for the bottom of the bale is drawn, as the sizeof the bale increases, without hindrance (from the string box, not shown) over needle 6, and string for the top of the bale is taken from that held by upraised arm I2. The latter is thus pivoted grade ually downward as the size of the bale increases until it finally reaches its original position, as shown in dotted line Fig. 1. This downward movement of arm I2 is resisted by a friction brake generally designated 30 mounted upon shaft I9, and having an outer band Slim is 'secured by means of a bracket 36a and bolts SI to the upper portion of bearing bracket 8. y

Brake 3i) as shown most clearly in Fig. '7, in`

4 cludes a ring member 30h formed or provided on its inner surface with two opposed stops 30C, land disposed within ring member 3l?b so as to turn therein is a component 39d centrally drilled to fit on shaft lil and being locked thereto by means of a -pin 3B@ passed through apertures 30f of a boss 30g formed on one side of component 3l)d and through shaft ID. Component 30d has two stop portions 30h as illustrated, and between said stops 30h and the stops 30C of ring member 39h are disposed helical compresesion springs 3l)i located on studs 355 vand 38h. Said brake band 39m with Vfriction lining Sil embraces ring component 3th and the pressure exerted by said band B is adjustable by means of a swivel bolt 30P, with nutI Silq and compression spring 30P, which connects the free ends of band 30m.

It will be seen that springs 361 will permit arm i2 a 'certain amount of downward movement under the pull of the engaged string before any slip 'occurs between ring member 3b and Abrake band 30m. By these means', slack which tends to appear in the string held by arm l2 (due to ex'- pansion of the material in the baling chamber between working strokes of ram 4) is taken 'up by spring 3@ which imparts a slight upward movement to said arms. It will, of course, be understood that, although in the foregoing de'- scription reference has been made' to one knetter only with its respective needlel 6 and arm 'I 2, dring operation of the baling machine both knotters and associated mechanisms 'operate 'simufl'tane ously and in identical manner.

The drive to knotter shaft I is taken from a spur wheel I'I (Fig. 4) which, 'during operation of they .balen is rotated continuously-from the main drive (not shown) of the baler-abollt shaft I upon which it is freely mounted exteriorly 'of side plate 9. Spur wheel I7 is arranged to drive shaft and so actuate knotters 5, `5 by means of a pawl I8 pivoted at I8a to a driving Ydog I3 keyed to shaft 'I. Said pawl I 8 is 'continuously urged toward engagement with a stepped portion Il'b formed as illustrated in flange I'Ia of spur wheel Il by a tension' spring 26, one end of which latter is anchored at 2li@ to an arm E9e of dog I9, and the other end thereof is secured to pawl I8 at ith. A cetent arrh 2i keyed to a stub shaft 22 journall'ed in bearings 23 of s'ide plate is adapted to engage a catch piece I8c of pawl I8vk and to maintain the latter, against the resistance of spring 2o, out of engagement with stele I'Ib o'f spur Wheel I7. Also keyed to stub shaft 22 vis a crank member 24 to the upper arm 24ai whereof is pivote@ a block '25 `wherete is' aiiiuste' ably secured, by means or" a bolt 26 with 2te, one end of a chain 27. The other end of chain 2T is secured to the end 'of 'a t'r'ip lever 28 k'e'yed to sha'ft I6. A tension spring 29 (Fig. 3) is 'also attached to lar'm 24a and, being anchored to a convenient portion of the baler frame, normally maintains detent arrri 2i of stub shaft '2`2' the path of, or' in engagement with, eaten piece itc' of pawl I8 as illustrated iii full line Fig. 4.

It `will be seen that wheiiextraetor arms' i2 are raised, trip lever ize being Keyed to shaft 'It Ywill move to the position illustrated, chain 21wi'1i be slack, and crank member 42li will, 'nde'i the 'nfluerice of spring 29, 'turn' stub shaft 22 to effect engagement or lever 2l with catch-piece ItC 'or pawl is. In the unlikely event of spring 29' failing lto iriove ariri 2l irito engagement with pawl I8, the head of a bolt "5b 'of 'the adjacent kr'iottei 5 arranged to Contact lower arm zlib' er erafilr member '24 and so effect the required movements;

Pawl I8 will thus be pivoted clear of step I'Ib of spur Wheel I'I which will rotate freely upon knotter driving shaft 'I. When, however, arms I2 reach their lowermost position (as in dotted line Fig. 1) the consequential tightening of chain 2'I causes disengagement of detent lever 2I from catch-piece I8c and the engagement of pawl I8 with step I'Ib of spur wheel I'I which thus drives shaft l to operate knotters 5. At the end of one revolution of shaft 1, arms .I2 are again in raised position due to rotation of cam I3 with shaft 1, and pawl I8 is disengaged from step I'Ib.

Knotters 5 and their associated mechanism are thus caused to come into operation each time the string held by arm I2 has been taken up by the movement of a bale-in-making through the baling chamber, and at no time is string pulled between said bale-in-making and the lastcompleted bale. Tension in said string is, therefore, reduced to a minimum and likelihood of its being pulled from retainer 5a, or of its being broken, is obviated.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 5 and 6 and to the relative contouring of cams I3 and I4, it Will be appreciated that as there is no movement of said cams during the operative pivoting to lowermost retracted position of arms I2 on shaft ID, follower IB will be in a raised position and clear of cam I4 (as shown in dotted line Fig. 5) when the knotting operation commences. The profile of cam I4 is such that, after approximately 180 movement (Fig. 6), it contacts follower IE and ensures that arms I2 are in fully retracted position for a knotting operation to commence. It is also arranged that cam I3, during said knotting operation, shall impart a slight initial lift to follower IE, so that the feet I2a of arms I2 move slightly to the right (as viewed in Fig, 1) in order to position the string which is then positioned thereover by needle 5, and held at c, clear of the knotter mechanism as it operates to complete the knotting of the ends a, b of the string around a completed bale.

In the unlikely event of both strings breaking, due to a flaw in their construction, the knotter trip mechanism may be hand-actuated by a handle lever 32 secured to shaft I0, and by means of which said shaft If) can be rotated; and so long as the breakages do not occur between needles 6 and the string boxes, not shown, said needles will present the string in a position whereby it will be gripped as at c byvknotter retainer 5a and a new bale will be formed. Should one string only break, the engagement of the unbroken string over one of said arms I 2 is suicient to cause retraction of said arms to the position required to trip and operate knotters 5: the broken string will then be retained by the appropriate knotter and a new bale formed in normal manner.

What We claim as our invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Baling apparatus of the typereferred to having knotters, a driving shaft for said knotters, and knotter needles swingable through slots in a bailing chamber, provided with means whereby, in respect of each knotter of said bailing apparatus and after the completion of one bale and before the commencement of the next succeeding bale, a length of string is extracted from a supply of said string, said extracting means comprising a shaft disposed adjacent to the shaft of said knotters, extractor arms keyed to said second-mentioned shaft and having angled portions at their outer ends each adapted to be positioned transversely of an adjacent baling chamber'slot in order to engage the string positioned in the path of a bale-in-making, arms secured to said extractor arm shaft, follower rollers ycarried atthe ends of said second-mentioned arms, land cams mounted on said'knotter driving shaft for turning therewith forengaging said followers and pivotally raising said extractor arms away from thebaling chamber each time the knotter needles swing through the slots of the hailing chamber to position lengths of string in the path vof a new bale, .and whereby a length of string approximately equal to the length of a completed bale is held by each arm above the baling chamber.

2. Baling apparatus as Vclaimed in claim l wherein a spring loaded. friction brake locked to a side plate of the apparatus is mounted on the extractor arm shaft for resistingl rotation of said extractor arm shaft.

3. Baling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said cams is a lift cam whereby said extractor arms are raised, and the other a return cam for ensuring that said extractor arms are fully retracted on the completion of each bale.

4. Baling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said cams is a lift cam whereby said extractor arms are raised, and the other a return cam for ensuring that said extractor arms are fully retracted on the completion of each bale with said return cam being contoured to prevent free movement of said extractor arms at the top of their raised positions.

5. Baling apparatus as claimed inA claim 1 wherein one of said cams is a lift cam whereby said extractor arms are raised, the other a return cam for ensuring that said extractor arms are fully retracted on the completion of each bale with said return cam being contoured to prevent free movement of said extractor arms at the top of their raised positions, and said lift cam is profiled to impart to the extractor arms a small initial movement prior to the raising of said arms to their uppermost position.

6. Baling apparatus as claimed in claim l, including a spur wheel revoluble on the knotter shaft and adapted to be driven continuously, a driving dog keyed to said knotter shaft, a pawl pivoted on said driving dog, a stepped portion formed on the flange of said spur wheel, a spring for urging said pawl into engagement with said stepped flange portion of the spur wheel, a stub shaft journalled in a side plate of the apparatus, a detent arm keyed to said stub shaft for engaging a catch piece of said pawl to normally maintain the latter out of engagement with the stepped flange of the spur wheel, a cranked member keyed to said stub shaft, a trip lever keyed to the extractor arm shaft, and a connection between the upper end of said cranked member and said trip lever whereby is caused locking of the knotter shaft with said spur Wheel when the extractor arms are in fully retracted position on the completion of a bale and unlocking of said knotter shaft from said spur wheel when the extractor arms are in raised position.

'7. For use in combination with baling apparatus of the type referred to, string knotting mechanism having knotters and a driving shaft therefore, and string extracting mechanism, including a shaft disposed adjacent the driving shaft of the knotting mechanism, a string extractor arm in respect of each knotter of said knotting mechanism keyed to said second-men- 7 timed shaft, angledioot' portions attua outer ends of V'sad extractor 'ar-nisv adapted to engage string positioned inthe path of. a bale-in-making, arms-secured to said second-mentioned shaft, follower rollers carriedat 'the ends 'of 'said second-mentioned arms, cams mounted on said knotteridriving shaft and turning therewithY for engaging said vfollowers and raising the extractor arms each time the knotter needles position lengths of string in the path of a new ba1e,a spur Wheel revoluble on theA knetter` driving shaft and' adapted for lcontiizmvousv rotation, 'detentmeans' for causing said spur Wheel to become locked to said knotter sharft,and a trip lever. keyed to said extractor arm'shaft'fonactuating said detent means and causing locking of said knetter shaft with said spur Wheelwhen the extractor arms' are retracted, and. unlocking 8 of saidkxrotter: shaft fromsaid spur wheel when ther extractor-"arms are raised.

DAVIDTHOMAS JONES.

JONES.

References' Citedk in the iiie of this patent UNITED STA'YILES PATENTS Number Name Date '16433-18 Towner 1 July 5, 1904 H808,153 Herat L n r Dec. 26, A1905 1,008,787 l fN'ov` 14, 1911 2;405',688 i. Augv 13, 1946 2,470,724 et al. uw May 17, 1949 FQREIG'N PATENTS Number t Country Y "Date Germany ...A..-.- v.. Apr. 29, 1941 

